


keep me safe inside your arms

by mxhiyoko



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, and it's a post-dr3 au, briefly references kyoko's "death" in dr3, but she's not dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:26:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27612049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mxhiyoko/pseuds/mxhiyoko
Summary: Makoto has nightmares about the killing games, and Kyoko comforts him.
Relationships: Kirigiri Kyoko/Naegi Makoto
Comments: 4
Kudos: 76





	keep me safe inside your arms

**Author's Note:**

> More impulsive comfort fic? Yes. Another huge thank you to lily (@fuyupeko) for beta-ing! Comments and kudos are always appreciated!

Even after their second killing game had long since come to pass, Makoto often found himself restless late at night, mind wandering back to the days they spent playing and replaying Monokuma’s twisted game. Images of their dead peers and classmates haunted him constantly, making his pulse quicken and his heart race.

Sayaka’s lifeless body slumped against the shower wall in his bathroom.

Chihiro strung up and left on display in the locker room.

Chisa’s impaled corpse, abandoned in the conference room.

His heart ached for those he could never save, guilt plaguing him even for years to come. He had done his best not to blame himself, knowing he hadn’t been directly responsible for any of their deaths. The games, Monokuma,  _ Junko _ \- they were to blame for all the blood shed. But sometimes, Makoto still found himself trapped in  _ what if  _ spirals, unable to escape the damage inflicted by the killing games.

With Kyoko by his side, things were easier. They learned to cope and process together, the shared trauma giving them a level of understanding of one another that not even Hina had. But sometimes having people around who understood just wasn’t enough.

As hard as Makoto fought to suppress it, sometimes the sight of Kyoko’s lifeless body would creep back up on him, sending chills through his entire body and making his heart skip several beats. It happened in nightmares, mostly. Vivid dreams that felt like they were suffocating him, squeezing his chest in ways that jolted him awake in the middle of the night, body clammy and shivering from the fear.

Kyoko’s near-death was the one he would never forgive himself for.

If he felt guilty about his classmates and fellow Future Foundation members’ deaths, he loathed himself for letting anything bad happen to Kyoko. The despair washed over him like riptides, threatening to pull him under with little hope of escape.

Her body on the floor, cold and lifeless as the band on her wrist flashed red with her forbidden action. Hina kneeling beside her, tears streaming down her face as both of their hearts broke in tandem. To this day, the weight of her sacrifice rested heavy on his shoulders, even with her alive and well.

Most nights, knowing she was asleep beside him was enough to calm him down, grounding him back in reality. But some nights, all he could see when he shot up from his nightmares was her corpse laying beside him, breaking his heart all over again.

Those nights he couldn’t even scream, his entire body going cold as the world around him seemed to freeze. A numb feeling crept through his limbs, his heartbeat erratic as his brain short circuited. The feeling was all too familiar, one he vowed to never let anyone else experience again, yet he seemed doomed to relive it forever.

The past few nights, whenever Makoto retired to bed for the night he found himself gripped by fear before even closing his eyes. The fear paralyzed him, leaving him to stare aimlessly at their bedroom ceiling as the minutes crept by. His only source of comfort came from the soft sounds of Kyoko fast asleep beside him, but it wasn’t quite enough. If she went silent for just a second too long, his heart began pounding, his chest constricting as he fought back memories of dead friends.

He’d taken to fueling himself off caffeine and brief naps during the daylight hours, the only times he felt truly safe from the ghosts of his past. It only took Kyoko a couple days to notice this though, the concern evident in her eyes as she offered to help him correct his sleep schedule. 

To anyone else, it would’ve looked like she was lecturing him, but Makoto had come to know her well enough throughout the years that he could read her tells. 

Eyes narrowing, irises darkening to a stormy grey. 

Arms crossing over her chest as her lips curled downward into a slight frown. 

The softening of her voice as she spoke his name, his stomach dropping from the guilt of making her worry.

It was that same voice that always snapped him back to reality, especially that night when he felt like he couldn’t breathe, the fear suffocating him as he sat in bed petrified. His body didn’t feel like his own, more like some kind of hazy fever dream, everything he touched felt too far away to process. 

“Makoto?” She mumbled, her voice tired and low from sleep. He didn’t register it the first time his name was uttered, only realizing she was speaking when she repeated it for the third time, the concern now evident in her voice.

He felt a bit of the haze around him dissipate as he turned to look at her, his vision blurred from sleep deprivation. He felt like he was off floating through space, and Kyoko’s voice was the rope tethering him to earth. 

Makoto opened his mouth to speak, but his mind drew a blank, so he bit his lip instead. He sat there, vaguely aware of his body’s unconscious rocking, the movement coming to a halt as he felt Kyoko placing her hands on his shoulders, her palms warm against his clammy skin.

“Focus on me, Makoto. Ground yourself.” He heard her say, giving a slight nod of his head as he felt himself be pulled into her arms.

The warmth of her embrace seemed to knock some of the feeling back into his limbs, shivers wracking his body as his arms unconsciously wrapped around her frame. Tears stung at his eyes, threatening to spill down his face if he didn’t stop hyperventilating. But as hard as he tried, it was no use. The tears started flowing within what felt like seconds, and Makoto buried his face into Kyoko’s shoulder as his hands desperately gripped onto the fabric of her shirt, scared to let go of her.

He could feel her arms tightening around him as she gently coaxed him into laying down together, her ankle hooking around one of his legs as she maneuvered herself to be laying on top of him. The weight of her body on top of his own felt comforting, a welcome kind of heavy feeling. It felt grounding, like it was forcing him to slow down and  _ breathe.  _ He could faintly hear her murmuring reassurances into his ear, but all he could focus on was the sound of her heartbeat, willing his own to calm enough to match the gentle rhythm. 

Makoto wasn’t sure how long they laid there like that, his body gradually being released from the fear that had threatened to suffocate him. He let go of Kyoko’s shirt once his heart no longer felt like it would beat out of his chest, instead letting his hands come to rest carefully on the small of her back as he let out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding in. Kyoko must have sensed the gentle waves of calm that had washed over him, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek as she shifted her weight off of him, but didn’t bother disentangling their limbs.

“I love you,” Makoto murmured after a moment, turning his head to look into Kyoko’s eyes. “Thank you.”

“No need to thank me,” she replied with a slight shrug of her shoulders. “I love you too, I’m here for you.”

Though simple, her words held so much weight, wrapping him in a sense of comfort he hadn’t felt in a while. He had been trapped inside his head, to the point where he had almost forgotten what it felt like being reminded of how loved he was.

“Nightmares again?” Kyoko asked softly after a moment, letting her head rest against his shoulder. Makoto nodded his head, not trusting himself to speak too much in the moment. “It’s okay to sleep, I’m right here. I’ll protect you for the rest of the night.”

Almost as if on cue, Makoto let out a yawn, earning him a soft laugh from Kyoko. She murmured a gentle, “sleep,  _ Naegi _ ,” and he gave a hum in response, his eyelids already feeling heavy. He let them flutter shut without protest, and quickly drifted off to sleep, never doubting for a second that Kyoko would protect him. In her arms, he felt safe, like nothing bad would ever happen to him.

Like nothing bad would happen to  _ either _ of them, so long as they stayed wrapped up in each others’ arms.

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on tumblr @mxhirukoizumi


End file.
